Daily Trip 18 August 2017
For the first time in over a month, we were able to spot the Marine Big 5 our waters, which was a really welcome surprise...
Written by Jax, August 19 2017
For the first time in over a month, we were able to spot the Marine Big 5 our waters, which was a really welcome surprise.
This was due to the return of the elusive Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin, who have been a little scarce on our side of the world lately. We always feel really fortunate when we do get to see them, since these coastal dwelling cetaceans are the most vulnerable of our marine mammals, with less than 500 left. We were able to pinpoint these dolphins on all 3 trips as they cruised the shallows, riding the waves and probably searching for a mullet or two.
The second trip of the day also got lucky when they were able to one of our iconic Great White Sharks at Slashfin. Scarlett is a 4.2m female who has been frequenting the bay recently after a long absence, and we're all really chuffed that she has decided to pay us all a visit. These majestic fish each have their own migration and we generally find that the larger the animal gets, the less we get to see them.
In terms of other interesting sights, one group of clients caught a glimpse of a ravenous Cape Fur Seal who was tearing away at his calamari at around noon. Our seals cannot use their flippers to grasp, so this usually creates a spectacular show where the seal violently shakes its prey, breaking off bite size chunks until the meal is over. We also got to see a Sunfish on our last trip of the day, which made a lot of sense due to the abundance of Box Jellyfish that we had seen throughout our trips. We also had a large raft of African Penguins returning home to Dyer Island, which is always a special sight!
Now, down to the whale action, Pearly beach seems to be where it's all happening with whales coming in from all directions. It is always interesting to see how these mating groups wax and wane, with animals moving in and out as the sightings progress.
On the first trip, we were lucky to have 2 Southern Rights approach us immediately as we hit the shallow waters of Pearly Beach and this was really a treat. The whales lay next the boat for some time, really giving one a sense of just how massive these creatures are. One of the individuals placed his tail fluke horizontally next to the boat, almost to prove that the fluke can be up to 5m long from tip to tip, it was simply massive.
Other whale highlights include an individual with a white spot on its back which was quite an interesting and unusual sight. We also got to see quite a bit of belly action as the whales frolicked just behind the breakers.
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